The findings:
– Women, people with lower incomes, and people with less education reported more stress in all three surveys.
– The older Americans get, the less stress they feel. Retirees reported less stress than workers.
– Middle-aged white men with college educations and full-time jobs were most stressed by the 2008-2009 economic downturn, according to the latest surveys.
– Stress levels increased between 10 and 30 percent across all demographics from 1983 to 2009.

I’ve gotten so stressed before that I ended up hospitalized from high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and shortness of breath. It’s really hard to keep stress under control sometimes. Women tend to worry more about other people than we do about ourselves. Sometimes there’s way too much pressure put on us and if feels as though the weight of the world is on our shoulders. It’s no wonder that women and poor people sometimes have to rely on medications to lower stress levels. I’ve thought about taking that route, but it wouldn’t be worth it. I’ve gotten harassed and fired for just talking about how I believe marijuana should be legalized online by cyberstalking bosses without even given the opportunity to take a drug test. Life isn’t fair sometimes and that causes more stress.

Electa Draper is the health writer for The Denver Post and has covered every news beat in a 22-year journalism career at three newspapers. She has a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's in journalism.